Route of Administration
Sublingual
Last updated
Placed under the tongue and absorbed through the thin mucous membrane on the floor of the mouth, into veins that drain straight into the circulation. This avoids the stomach and the liver's first pass. How much is absorbed depends on how long the material stays in contact with the mucosa, and anything swallowed becomes an oral dose instead.
Why it matters here
Whether a figure was measured sublingually or after swallowing can change the amount absorbed by a large multiple, so on this site the route field is load-bearing rather than a description of packaging.
What it is not
Buccal is folded into this term in our alias list, and that is a simplification worth knowing about. The inside of the cheek and the floor of the mouth are different tissues with different absorption, so a study labelled buccal is not automatically sublingual evidence.
Also called
- sublingual
- under tongue
- sl
- buccal
SL is the usual abbreviation and under tongue is the plain-English search phrase. Buccal is listed because people use it interchangeably, although it names the cheek rather than the floor of the mouth.
Compounds carrying this term
None on file yet. This term is in the controlled vocabulary but no compound record currently uses it — which is a statement about our coverage, not about the term.